Building structure



April 27, 1943.

R. w. MLAUGHLlN, JR

BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 2, 1940 INVENTOR I i five-x1 61/ flm k.

flow 411;) 75055 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE BUILDING STRUCTURE Application August 2, 1940, Serial No. 349,901

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a building construction and more specificallyto a construction for prefabricated buildings.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter described, which will efficiently perform the purposes forwhich it is intended, which is simple and economical of construction,which can be expeditiously, conveniently and safely manipulated, andwhich can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction in whichone or more outer Walls and/or inner walls are braced interlockingly bymeans of dadoes or dadoes and notches whereby a building is given adesirable rigidity; to provide such a construction whereininterchangeable parts may be used which have been prefabricated, withthe dadoes and notches, at a plant which may be at a distance from thesite of the structure to be built.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties and the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed desscription, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a construction embodying one form ofthe invention; and

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the same.

It is desirable that the parts of a prefabricated building be ascompletely prepared at the manufacturing plant as possible and also thatthe parts be so shaped that they may be assembled at the site with asfew operations as possible and at the same time with a sufficientrigidity under the circumstances. The present invention contemplatessuch a structure and one in which the parts are, to a large extentinterchangeable.

In the drawing, denotes studs of an outer wall which, as shown, isparallel with a ridge pole. Stud l2 forms part of another wall, in thiscase an end or gable wall perpendicular to the ridge pole. Above thestuds are horizontal sill pieces H which may be joined to the studs toform interlocking wall units of the type described in my co-pendingapplicationserial No. 236,993, filed October 26, 1938, now Patent No.2,247,886, issued July 1, 1941. The separate elements or the units areprefabricated at a manufacturing plant.

Stud 16 forms part of an inner wall or apartition between rooms of thebuilding. It also may be part of a partition unit with sill element l8.Eaves plate 20 is superposed on one of the sills l4 and gable plates 22are superposed on the end sill M. The central partition is a bearingpartition and is surmounted by a bearing partition plate 24, the ends ofwhich extend under recesses in the end plates 22. These ends 25 rest onone or more end sills I4. The plates 20 and 24 are dadoed across theirupper surfaces. The dadoes are spaced along each plate in such positionsthat, when assembled, those in one plate are in registry with those inanother.

Joists 28 seat in the dadoes in the plates 20, 24. These joists areprovided with notches 30 and 32 which sit down around a lower edge of adado. The joists 28 preferably extend only part way along the length ofthe dadoes 34 in the partition plate whereby there is left space foranother notched joist 36 to seat in the same dado 34 and extend to anopposite side wall of the building not shown. The joists 28 and 36 haveend faces 38 and 40, respectively, which are in contact above thepartition. Rafters 42 are notched to seat at their lower ends againstthe wall plate or plates 20.

The interlocking position of the joists and plates with their notchesand dadoes gives the building an inherent rigidity which may besupplemented, if desired, by suitable attaching elements such as nails.The rafters are fixed to the plates and, if desired, to the joists bynails, etc.

The provision of the registering dadoes permits a plurality of similarinterchangeable plates and joists to be made at a factory and assembledat the site of the building without further preparation by relativelyunskilled labor.

The partition plate 24 may rest entirely at its ends without having apartition thereunder. The dadoed type of assemblage described above maybe used between outer walls and between partitions, as well as betweenwalls and partitions. The partition may extend parallel to the gable, aswell as perpendicular thereto.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and difierentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a. prefabricated building construction, in combination, aplurality of parallel outer walls, each comprising spaced studs, a sillsupported by said studs and an eaves plate supported by said sill, acentral partition disposed parallel to said walls and equally spacedtherefrom and comprising spaced studs, a sill supported by said studsand a bearing partition plate supported :by said sill, said eaves platesand said bearing partition plate each having a plurality of dadoes intheir upper surfaces, predetermined ones of said dadoes being inregistry, and a plurality of substantially identical, interchangeablejoists, notched at each end, each joist being positioned with onenotched end in an eaves plate dado and the other notched end in abearing partition plate dado, the joists and dadoes being ofsubstantially equal width, each pair of adjacent joists abutting end toend in a bearing partition plate dado.

2. In a prefabricated building construction, in combination, a pluralityof parallel outer walls, each comprising spaced studs, a sill supportedby said studs and an eaves plate supported by said sill, a centralpartition disposed parallel to said walls and equally spaced therefromand comprising spaced studs, a sill supported by said studs and abearing partition plate supported by said sill, said eaves plates andsaid bearing partition plate each having a plurality of dadoes in theirupper surfaces, predetermined ones of said dadoes being in registry, anda plurality of substantially identical, interchangeable joists, notchedat each end, each joist being positioned with one notched end in aneaves plate dado and the other notched end in a bearing partition platedado, the joists and dadoes being of substantially equal width, eachpair of adjacent joists abutting end to end in a bearing partition platedado, the upper surface of each end of said bearing partition platebeing dadoed to receive the notched ends of a plurality of abuttinggable plates.

ROBERT W. MCLAUGHLIN, JR.

